Introduction to BICS/CALP

What is BICS/CALP?
BICS = Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

An introduction to BICS/CALP and language proficiency

CALP = Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

What is BICS/CALP?
BICS = Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills The language necessary for day to day living, including conversations with friends, informal interactions. CALP = Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

Comparing BICS/CALP
BICS Context embedded
Context embedded means that the conversation is often face-to-face, offers many cues to the listener such as facial expressions, gestures, concrete objects of reference.

CALP Context reduced

Context reduced is the language of the classroom in which there are fewer non-verbal cues and the language is more abstract.

The language necessary to understand and discuss content in the classroom.

Comparing BICS/CALP
BICS Cognitively undemanding
Cognitively undemanding language is easy to understand, deals with everyday language and occurrences and uses simple language structure,

Cummins Quadrants
CALP A more detailed picture of BICS/CALP can be obtained by looking at language along 2 scales Cognitively Undemanding

Cognitively demanding
Cognitively demanding language relates to abstract concepts, has specialized vocabulary and uses more complex language structure.

Context Embedded

Context Reduced

Cognitively Demanding

Cummins Quadrants
Various school activities and subjects can then be fit into each quadrant in this chart.. Click for more Cognitively Undemanding
Talking with friends Absence excuse Buying lunch Art, music class Demonstrations Audio visual lessons Science experiments Basic math computations Telephone conversation Note from friend Written instructions

One language model of BICS/CALP

Sometimes BICS/CALP is represented as an iceberg.

BICS Context Reduced

Context Embedded

Standardized tests Reading/writing Math concepts Most content classes!

CALP

Cognitively Demanding

What implications or meaning can you derive from the idea of an iceberg? Click for more

What does this mean for school children?

While BICS/CALP can be used to describe the language proficiency of single language students, it is primarily used as a way to understand and evaluate the language level of students learning English as a second language. Click for more Cummins studies of second language learners indicates that children can develop BICS (social language) in 2 years, but it takes 5 -7 years for a child to work on the same level as native speakers in CALP.

2 language model of BICS/CALP

Now, let s expand the iceberg idea to represent a person with 2 languages L2
There is a common area of language proficiency which provides the foundation for use of both languages.

L1

CUP Common Underlying Proficiency

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Click for more

Implications for L2.

The implications of the 2 iceberg model are that: The second language grows from the foundation of the first language. The stronger the first language, especially CALP, the stronger the second language can be. Deaf children may not have had the opportunity to develop BICS and CALP in their primary language

What does this mean for school children?

A childs language ability can easily be over-estimated by looking at the BICS and not realizing the complexity and difficulty that second language students have in acquiring CALP in the second language. Click for more Think about the student with whom you work. Can you see a big difference in their BICS vs. their CALP abilities? Think about yourself in Sign Language. Hows your BICS vs. your CALP?

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